San Diego is a dynamic, thriving innovation ecosystem,
comprised of the world’s smartest companies, a talented and loyal workforce,
top-tier universities and easy access to international markets.
San Diego Lifestyle Stats
Annual Days of Sunshine in San Diego
263
Average San Diego Commute Times
23 minutes
(9th Shortest in the US)
Average San Diego Water Temperature
65.1°F
Neighborhoods of San Diego
Here is an Article from our friends at San Diego Magazine on the best neighborhoods.
San Diego Innovation Sectors
San Diego galvanizes innovators who leverage their technologies to make the world a better, safer and healthier place to live. Smart people come here to solve hard problems.
San Diego’s elected officials are accessible to and supportive of the innovation economy, a unique quality for a city of its size.
In 2015, San Diego was selected by National Geographic as the only city in North America to be featured in its “World’s Smart Cities” documentary, a 45 minute length film that highlights many cultural and scientific innovations that makes San Diego unique.
Forbes’ recognition of San Diego as the “best place to launch a startup” reflects the three C’s that are the hallmark of San Diego’s success: community, creativity and collaboration.
Software
Consumer and Saas
- Software boasts a $12.2 billion total economic impact, with more than 100,000 jobs impacted (Software Development: driving San Diego’s tech ecosystem, 2016)
- One in six innovation economy jobs in San Diego are in software development (Software Development: driving San Diego’s tech ecosystem, 2016)
- $750 million in software-driven M&A deals in 2015 (Software Development: driving San Diego’s tech ecosystem, 2016)
- Two times as likely for a software developer to work in scientific R&D than the rest of California (Software Development: driving San Diego’s tech ecosystem, 2016)
- Combined subscriptions of roughly 15,500 among top 15 companies; Eyeuniversal leading with 10,000 subscriptions
Life Sciences
- #3 in the U.S. for life sciences and biotech (Jones Lang LaSalle 2014)
- Boasts over 600 life science companies and more than 86 research institutions (Research Institution Economic Impact Report, 2015).
- Home to Illumina, consistently ranked one of the World’s smartest companies (MIT Technology Review 2016)
- Life sciences activity accounts for more than $14.2 billion in direct economic activity and more than $36.6 billion in total economic impact in San Diego (Research Institution Economic Impact Report, 2015).
- Hosted BIO International, the world’s biggest biotech conference in June 2014, bringing 15,000 visitors to the region. BIO will be back in San Diego in 2017
- Four of the “Top Ten Innovations of 2015” list were awarded to San Diego companies (The Scientist)
Sports and Active Lifestyle
- 1,200+ companies and 23,000+ direct employees (Report: San Diego County’s Sports and Active Lifestyle Cluster)
- Only city in U.S. with an organization solely focused on building the sports and active lifestyle vertical (Report: San Diego County’s Sports and Active Lifestyle Cluster)
- $2.24B economic impact = to hosting 4 Super Bowls/year (Report: San Diego County’s Sports and Active Lifestyle Cluster)
- Home to the West Coast’s largest co-ed social sport & activities club, VaVi (San Diego Regional EDC 2014)
Cleantech
- #3 of 50 metro cities on “U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index” (Clean Edge, MetroIndex 2016)
- #1 most concentrated major metropolitan region for cleantech employment in the U.S., with roughly 2.5 times the expected employment for a region its size
- Home to over 800 cleantech companies and counting (San Diego Regional EDC 2014)
- Low carbon economy is a $3 billion industry, generated 10,000+ jobs in recent years
- In 2015, San Diego ranked first in the nation for solar installations and solar jobs
- Has more electric vehicle drivers per capita than any other U.S. city (UT San Diego 2014)
- First in the country to install LED post-top streetlights, remotely monitored and controlled by a state-of-the-art wireless adaptive controls network
- 90% of the city’s streetlights retrofitted eliminating 12,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year, taxpayers saving $2 million in utilities (San Diego Environmental Services)
- World’s first LED Platinum commercial terminal (San Diego International Airport)
Information & Communications Technologies (ICT)
- ICT grew 9% over 2014, fastest growing sector in the region (San Diego Regional EDC)
- 484 wireless employees per 100,000 residents, surpassing Silicon Valley and Los Angeles (375 and 141, respectively) (Forbes 2012)
- Largest employment cluster in San Diego’s innovation economy, directly accounting for approximately 67,000 of the region’s jobs
- ICT grew 9% over 2014, making it the fastest growing sector in the region (San Diego Regional EDC)
- ICT companies employ more than 67,000 people in the region (San Diego Regional EDC 2014)
- $94,000 average wages, 3rd highest paying employment sector (San Diego Regional EDC 2014)
- Home to globally competitive telecommunications company, Qualcomm, that has an economic impact of $4.53 billion annually (The Economic Impact Of Qualcomm, 2013)
- In 2014, the ICT cluster accounted for 75% of innovation startups in San Diego
Cybersecurity
- More than 7,620 workers in 104 cybersecurity companies (San Diego’s Cybersecurity Industry, CCOE, 2016)
- $1.9 billion total economic impact (San Diego’s Cybersecurity Industry, CCOE, 2016)
- San Diego ranks #20 in fastest growing metro areas for cybersecurity job postings (Burning Glass Technologies 2015)
- 13% projected job growth among cybersecurity firms compared to 2% overall job growth (San Diego’s Cybersecurity Industry, CCOE, 2016)
- San Diego-based SPAWAR employs nearly half of all regional cybersecurity jobs (San Diego’s Cybersecurity Industry, CCOE, 2016)
Cross Border/Mega-Region
- Home to two international airports including world’s first cross border airport terminal
- Region’s multiple international ports of entry had planned expenditures worth well more than $1 billion in 2013
- Proximity of research and development facilities to Northern Mexico’s manufacturing hubs allows for the development of quick to market products
- Tijuana brought in over U.S. $8 billion in FDI in the last 10 years
- 40 years of premier consumer electronic production/assembly in Tijuana
Research Institutions
Home to over 80 research institutes (Connect Innovation Report 2014)
- San Diego County ranked #1 in California in number and second in NSF grant funding received (Connect Innovation Report 2014)
- La Jolla was the #1 ranked city in California for NIH funding awarded in FY 2014. (Connect Innovation Report 2014)
- The region’s scientific research and development cluster generates $14.4 billion in gross regional product. (Research Institution Economic Impact Report, 2015).
- San Diego’s non-profit research institutions have a $4.6 billion impact on the regional economy—four times the annual impact of the San Diego Convention Center, 34 times the impact of Comic-Con and 33 times the impact of the U.S. Open Golf Championship (Research Institution Economic Impact Report, 2015).
- Independent research institutes in San Diego receive more NIH research funding and generate more patents than counterparts in any metro area of the U.S. (Research Institution Economic Impact Report, 2015).
- The amount of lab space exceeds the total square footage of shopping malls in San Diego.
Talent
- UC San Diego and USD both ranked among top 100 business schools internationally (Financial Times 2015)
- UCSD ranked #20 on list of “The 25 Best Universities In The World” (Business Insider 2014)
- #3 on list of “The Best Public Universities in America” (Business Insider 2016)
- UCSD was the 2nd largest recipient of NIH grants in California, totaling $455 million (Connect Innovation Report 2014)
- Among peer metros, San Diego ranks (Talent, Where San Diego Stands, 2016):
- 2nd – percent growth of degree-holding millennials (age 25-34)
- 1st – concentration of scientific R&D firms and employment
- 3rd – wages in sciences and engineering jobs
- 1st – lowest average commute times
- 2nd – average annual pay for R&D employees at $176,000
- 3rd – total number of scientific R&D firms
- UCSD, home to the Jacobs School of Engineering, is ranked among the top ten engineering programs in the country, and some specialized programs – including Computer Science – rank in the top ten worldwide.
- In 2014, San Diego gained 72,000 degree holders – more than any other major metro area (Talent, Where San Diego Stands, 2016)
Maritime
- The growing maritime industry is expected to add at least another 6,000 new jobs by 2020.
- Total direct revenue from the maritime cluster totals more than $14 billion.
- Total Gross Regional Product (GRP) contributed by the shipbuilding and repair industry and through its ripple effects amounted to $1.75 billion.
- In 2014, more than 12,000 people were employed in the shipbuilding and repair industry cluster.
Defense
(All facts from SDMAC Economic Impact Study, 2016)
- Largest concentration of military assets in the world
- In fiscal 2015, $24.8 billion in direct spending related to defense was sent to San Diego, an amount equal to about $7,700 for each of the County’s residents.
- Responsible for 328,000 of the region’s total jobs in 2015, approximately 22 % of all of the jobs in the County
